Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center Inc.

Strongwater Farm’s organization goals are needed now more than ever. These include
• Helping participants gain confidence and skills that they can translate to the life outside of the barn
and away from the horses
• Providing a healing and normalizing environment that enables decompression and calming for
participants
• Enabling all individuals in need to experience the unconditional acceptance and compassion of horses

Because of COVID shut downs and distancing we also add the goals of:
• Providing sensory experiences, particularly for those who have experienced and continue to experience isolation for health reasons
• Providing programs that work to help alleviate depression and anxiety especially among those with disabilities or who have experienced decompensating behaviors.
• Providing regularity and routine for those who depend on routine especially children and adults on the autism spectrum.

Strongwater Farm has recently increased our capacity by almost 30%. This has allowed us to add new programs and work with more groups and individuals in our area. We are reaching out to public school special education programs with our Bridge to Discovery program for students on the spectrum or with emotional and behavioral challenges. The program offers a sensory experience, physical activity that is safe and an opportunity to be outside at the farm. A number of school districts have participated in this program and wish to resume but currently are working to overcome limitations due to transportation and funding. This program is also utilized by youth in a residential treatment program and by youth in programs run by Beth Israel/Lahey Health.

Additional new programs and services are addressing the needs of our first responders, partnering with our local police. We also have a program that works with several senior living centers in our area addressing sensory issues and memory care.

Strongwater Farm has a dedicated board and a strong group of volunteers which have helped us weather the last year. We completed our construction project in spite of all the adversity and continue to adapt our services to comply with COVID restrictions while meeting the needs of our communities. In the last year we have also revised our schedule to adapt to our new indoor facility and revamped our registration system. Executive Director Maria Antonioni is working with the finance committee on budgeting and financial management in a most uncertain world. This strong board and management has allowed us to continue to operate when so many non-profits in our region have closed or gone on hiatus.

We have revamped our registration system and changed our annual calendar and schedule to provide more services due to our new indoor center. We have also improved our IT system and moved our phones to VoIP in order to ensure better communication and timely responses.

During the coming year we anticipate a growing need for our services, and also a growing number of individuals and programs in financial distress. We also may not be able to hold our regular events until late in 2021. Our goal is to raise more general operating funds to allow us to quickly pivot to meet the needs of those who depend on us. COVID-19 has certainly taught us to be flexible and to be ready for anything. While this has been a difficult year for all of us it has strengthened our organization in many ways and forced us to find new and creative ways to operate.